Tess Thomson
=Thomson Family= Background My father’s side of the family, the Thomson’s, is first generation American. My grandparents were both born in Scotland and their families still live there today. Most of my family in Scotland lives in Glasgow and are very close. My great aunt Anna and her husband, Jack, regularly take care of and watch their grandchildren while their parents are at work. Since they all live very close, my family in Scotland, especially my family on my grandmother’s side, celebrate holidays together each year. However my grandparents decided to move to the US since they felt that they would have better opportunities because of how class oriented Scotland was. In Scotland, you were in the poor, middle or rich class and you did not move up or down in class. Therefore, my grandfather wanted to travel to better our family’s position. He was in the British Royal Navy as a mechanical engineer. After the move, due to my grandfather’s job as a consultant for General Motors Corporation, my grandparents and their family moved around a lot. As a consultant he helped fix problems with engines internationally. My oldest uncle was born in Scotland, while my second oldest uncle was born in Canada, and my dad and his twin sister were born in Buffalo, New York. While growing up, some of the places they lived in were New Jersey, New York, Egypt, Pakistan, and Michigan. As my father grew up, his family never lived in a place for longer than two years. In the middle of his first year of high school, he moved to Michigan where him and his siblings were able to graduate from their high school there. After graduating, my father went to Michigan State University with his older brother, while my aunt went to a small private university in Michigan, and my grandparents moved to Egypt once again. Though both of my grandparents have died, they lived in North Carolina while I was growing up. My oldest uncle, Gordon, lives in Seattle, Washington, my second oldest uncle, Graham, lives in Sarasota, Florida, my dads twin, Catherine, lives in Toledo, Ohio, and my father, Bob, lives in Rockville, Maryland with my mom and where I grew up. Beliefs The Thomson family does not have too many family traditions, but some beliefs and values have been passed on through the years. For example, even though my father’s family moved so much and were always busy with four children, my grandparents always made it a priority that every night the family had dinner together. My grandfather always wanted to make sure that the family was able to meet every night and catch up on each other’s lives. This is something that my father has definitely kept alive with my family. Every night growing up we would have dinner together, and without the TV on. My father believes that it is extremely important to have dinner together and he thinks that it really helps keep our family together. Since my father’s family had moved around so much, they were extremely open to other cultures. Living in countries like Pakistan and Egypt, my father and his family were the outsiders. Though they were never discriminated against, nor did they discriminate against their peers, they were definitely forced to adapt to very diverse cultures. Growing up, my father was taught not to judge others based on their race, which allowed them to always have peaceful and positive interactions with other races and cultures. Also, growing up, my grandparents never specified any particular gender roles on their children. My grandparents always taught their children to be who you are, which was something my parents definitely taught me growing up. Although the Thomson family celebrates religious holidays like Christmas and Easter, our family has never been extremely religious. My father does not believe in God and did not attend church growing up. I also never went to church growing up, and have only gone to church with friends. A big part of being a Thomson is having a love for travelling. Members of my family have travelled to all seven continents and love seeing and experiencing other cultures and parts of the world. The love of traveling allows members of our family to be very open to other cultures and other races, and not judging those that are different from us. =Spencer Family= Background My mother’s side of the family, the Spencer’s, has been in America since before the civil war. It is unclear on whose family came to America first, my grandfather’s side or my grandmother’s side (the Weeks). There is proof that a family member of my grandmother fought in the civil war for the south. When looking back though, my family on my mother’s side is said to have come from different European countries, or as my mother calls herself, a “mutt.” There is little information about where and what my great aunts and uncles on my grandmother’s side of the family are doing today because of a family feud when my mother was a little girl; in fact my mother never met most of her mother’s siblings. The family feud happened with one of my grandmother’s brothers, Harvey. He was married seven times and when one of his wives died, she left him a lot of money. The rest of his siblings (except for my grandmother) thought he should share the money with them and he and my grandmother did not agree. So therefore, she never spoke to the rest of the siblings, and at some point my grandmother lost touch with him too. My grandmother was brought up in Oklahoma, but moved to California in the Dust Bowl, where she met my grandfather. My grandparents brought up their family in Thousands Oaks, California. As a child, my mother’s family only travelled to Northern California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington for family vacations. Then for two weeks in August each year her family went camping at a campground at Lake Tahoe called Fallen Leaf Lake. My grandmother died before I was born and my grandfather remarried before I was born as well. Today, him and his wife live in Port Townsend, Washington. Both of my uncles, Jeff and Greg, live in California. After years of dreaming of living on the east coast, when my mom was 21 she drove across country and moved to Washington D.C., where she met my father. My parents then moved to Rockville, Maryland and still live there today, though my mom does work in Alexandria, Virginia, and commutes there each day. Beliefs The Spencer family does not have many family traditions or values that have been passed on through the years. My mother was raised going to a Christian Science church. But in high school she stopped going and she does not believe in the Christian Science practice, however she does believe in God. Growing up my mother did have Jewish friends and was open to and respected other religious practices. My mother grew up in a predominantly all white neighborhood, though her family was raised to not discriminate against other races. Although she did not know anyone from diverse backgrounds as she grew up, she does now and feels comfortable with all people of different race and ethnic backgrounds. My grandparents definitely treated my mother differently because she was a girl. As she grew older, her parents made her cook and clean for the family. They also made her make her own clothing for a long time as well. She was the youngest in her family and her father treated her especially different compared to her brothers. Growing up, I have often heard my mom mention how her father treated her very disrespectfully and how she hated her childhood. She said that her parents’ expectations for their sons were to grow up, get good jobs, marry and have kids. However, she was not expected to have a carrier, but was instead expected to be a stay at home mother. Because of this, she was not able to go to college, but worked hard and made a successful career for herself in the Direct Mail business. My mother today still has a difficult relationship with her father and mainly only talks to him on holidays. =Tess= Me Today Growing up in Maryland, a liberal and diverse state, with understanding parents, I have definitely learned to be open to others. My parents taught me what they were taught has children, which was to treat others how I wanted to be treated and to not discriminate against others. I have for sure kept this mentality growing older. In high school I was friends with a variety of different people, and never tended to look down on someone because of their race or sexuality. I was a competitive cheerleader for eight years and was really good friends with gays, and still am today. Also, one of my best friends is Paraguayan and I used to spend almost every weekend at her house where her parents mainly only spoke Spanish. My parents were never bothered by me being friends with someone of another race, and encouraged me to speak Spanish with her and her family. Being raised in a diverse community, where at least half of my high school was not Caucasian, definitely helped my open mind. However if I had not been brought up in an open and accepting household my views could have easily been different, for I did know one or two racist people growing up. Though when I came to Oklahoma, I was amazed at how many people I met that were racist and not accepting of homosexuals. My family has never had any issues with anything like that, so it was extremely interesting, yet disappointing to hear of people whose families had distinctly told them gays are wrong, or don’t be friends with black people. Overall though, I have definitely inherited the Thomson’s love of travel. I grew up traveling to Europe many times, and I think that that has really taught me to be open about other cultures. My dad always wanted me to learn about other cultures and to not look down upon them in any way. I believe that this has for sure contributed to my openness about others and has even impacted my studies, for I am a journalism major with a minor in anthropology. =Family Trees= Screen Shot 2013-04-24 at 12.14.45 AM.png|Spencer Family Tree Screen Shot 2013-04-24 at 12.03.30 AM.png|Thomson Family Tree